Westlake/West Sub

The battle to save Westlake Hospital intensified this week with hearings before state agencies, an effort to convince the state's attorney general to investigate and a lawsuit charging fraud being filed against Pipeline Health, its new and possibly final owner, by the village of Melrose Park.

This is a lot of deserved heat against Pipeline, an out-of-state company, which also bought West Suburban Medical Center and Weiss Memorial in the city. Those two hospitals will, allegedly, survive Pipeline's botched arrival in Chicago.

For Oak Park, River Forest and Austin, these are days to demand that Pipeline follow on promises to invest notably in our local hospital and in the health of our communities. So far, its word has not been its bond.